THE EXECUTIVES

Components

  • Standard Playing Card Deck, all face-cards removed.
  • 8 Influence Tokens per player
  • 10 CEO Influence Tokens
  • 1 Vote Marker per player
  • 1 Hidden Agenda per player

Game Overview

The Executives is a trick-taking game where players compete as C-Suite executives attempting to seize control of the company from the legacy CEO.

As players take actions in The Executives, play will always move clockwise around the table.

The game is played over a series of turns. The first four turns follow influence bidding then trick taking. The final turn is for voting.

Setup

Each player receives 8 influence and one permanent vote marker. Additionally, each player is given a hidden agenda. This hidden agenda is a secret goal that the player must achieve in order to score additional points at the end of the game.

During the deal, each player will receive cards equal to the amount of tricks in that round face down. This is their hand which only that player can look at. Additionally, every player will receive one card for their bribe face up.

Phases of a Turn

Bribes | Turn 1-4

  • Starting with the General Counsel, players go clockwise around the table and place a bid of influence to take Bribe cards from other players.
  • Once a bid is placed on a players bribe, a player can no longer place additional bids of influence on that players bribe.
  • Players may pass, after a player passes they may no longer place bids of influence on any bribe.
  • After all players have passed, starting with the COO, players take turns taking bribes from other players.
  • When a player takes a bribe, they select all of the influence from one player. They may either take the full amount of this influence or divide it by half, rounding down, and "lock" the bribe they give to the player. The bribe card is then given to the player who placed the bid of influence on the bribe that was selected. The bribe card is placed in that players gift cards section. If the bribe is locked, it is tilted sideways to indicate it is so. If the bribe was locked the remaining influence is returned to the player who took the bribe.
  • The player who has exchanged their bribe card for influence now moves all influence collected to either a relationship row or their personal influence. Relationships are filled once 3 influence from the same player is collected. When placing influence in relationships, you must place all influence from the same player in the same relationship. You may never have two or more rows of relationships from the same players influence.

Trick-Taking Rounds | Turn 1-4

  • Players play trick-taking rounds to win influence from the legacy CEO.
  • There are 4 turns, each with increasing influence to win:
    • Turn 1: 1 Influence / 1 Trick
    • Turn 2: 2 Influence / 2 Tricks
    • Turn 3: 3 Influence / 3 Tricks
    • Turn 4: 4 Influence / 4 Tricks
  • The starting player of a trick taking round is the COO.
  • When players play cards into a trick, they may either play from their hand or both their hand and their gift cards. The cards from which the player is choosing is their "pool" of cards.
  • The first player to play a trick sets the lead. The lead suit must be followed by all subsequent players if the cards they are selecting from have the lead suit. If a player does not have the lead suit, they may play any card from their pooled cards.
  • After every player has played a card, the winner of the trick is determined. The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest card of the trump suit. If no trump suit was played, the winner of the trick is the player who played the highest card of the lead suit. The winner of the trick receives 1 influence from the legacy CEO. The winner of the trick becomes the new COO.

Final Voting | Turn 5

  • Players spend their collected influence to acquire votes.
  • Starting with the COO, each player will have one opportunity to spend as much influence of one type each vote round. There are 4 vote rounds.
  • After all players place influence, the type of influence that was spent the most is the winning influence type. Each player who contributed to this influence receives 1 vote marker.

Scoring

At the end of the game, the player or legacy CEO with the most vote markers becomes the new CEO. If the legacy CEO has the most vote markers, their position is handed over to the Foreign Investor. Given a tie, the CEO title can be shared amongst players and the Foreign Investor.

  • Each gift: +1 point
  • Each vote token: +2 points
  • Each filled relationship: +3 points
  • Hidden Agenda fulfilled: +4 points